Apparatus and method for determining state of change (SOC) and state of health (SOH) of electrical cells

1. A method of testing a battery, the method comprising:

transmitting sound signals through at least a portion of a test battery;

receiving response signals in response to the transmitted sound signals, wherein the response signals include data points corresponding to acoustic measurements across the test battery;

creating a data set for the test battery that includes the data points;

correlating the data points in the data set with data points in a reference data set of one or more reference batteries to yield an assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, the data points in the reference data set corresponding to respective acoustic measurements across the one or more reference batteries obtained via respective response signals generated in response to one or more input acoustic signals transmitted into one or more portions of the one or more reference batteries; and

determining, in a non-invasive manner and based on the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, one or more characteristics of the test battery,

wherein the one or more characteristics of the test battery include one or more of:

a state of charge (SOC) of the test battery,

a physical state of the test battery, or

a future performance prediction for the test battery.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a degree of deviation between the data points test data set and the data points in the reference data set;

comparing the degree of deviation to a pre-designated threshold; and

determining the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements based on comparing the degree of deviation to a pre-designated threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether a fault or failure condition is present in the test battery based on the one or more characteristics.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

setting an alarm condition if the fault or failure condition is determined to be present.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

subjecting the test battery to one or more charge-discharge cycles;

obtaining two or more test data sets during different charge-discharge cycles; and

determining changes in the one or more characteristics based, in part, on correlating the two or more test data sets to the reference data set.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the test data set and the reference data set are obtained from transmitting sound signals through the test battery at different times.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more reference batteries are different than the test battery.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical state of the test battery corresponds to a physical state of at least one internal part of the test battery including:

structural relaxation related transport phenomena,

a phase change,

a mechanical strain,

formation of a fracture,

swelling,

dissolution, or

deposition of materials upon one or more surfaces of the at least one internal part of the test battery.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the correlating comprises one or more frequency analyses, including:

a wavelet analysis of vectors formed from the test data set and the reference data set;

comparing Fourier transforms determined from the test data set and the reference data set; or

performing a Bayesian analysis of the test data set and the reference data set.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of transducers configured to at least one of:

transmit sound signals through at least a portion of a test battery;

receive response signals in response to the transmitted sound signals, wherein the response signals include data points corresponding to acoustic measurements across the test battery; and

one or more processors configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored on one or more associated memories to:

create a data set for the test battery that includes the data points;

correlate the data points in the data set with data points in a reference data set of one or more reference batteries to yield an assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, the data points in the reference data set corresponding to respective acoustic measurements across the one or more reference batteries obtained via respective response signals generated in response to one or more input acoustic signals transmitted into one or more portions of the one or more reference batteries; and

determine, in a non-invasive manner and based on the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, one or more characteristics of the test battery,

wherein the one or more characteristics of the test battery include one or more of:

a state of charge (SOC) of the test battery,

a physical state of the test battery, or

a future performance prediction for the test battery.

11. A method of determining changes in a battery, the method comprising:

transmitting sound signals through at least a portion of a test battery and receiving response signals responsive to the transmitted sound signals during a first time period, the response signals including at least one of transmission time of flight values or reflection time of flight values of one or more of the sound signals;

creating a first test data set for the test battery, the first test data set comprising one or more test data points corresponding to the response signals during the first time period;

transmitting sound signals through at least a portion of the test battery and receiving response signals responsive to the transmitted sound signals during a second time period;

creating a second test data set for the test battery, the second test data set comprising one or more test data points corresponding to the response signals during the second time period; and

determining changes in one or more comparable data points from the first test data set and the second test data set, the changes being correlated to changes in one or more physical states of the test battery.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

subjecting the test battery to one or more charge-discharge cycles, wherein the first time period and the second time period correspond to different time periods of the one or more charge-discharge cycles.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the test battery is electrically isolated.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of transducers configured to at least one of transmit sound signals through at least a portion of a test battery and receive response signals responsive to the transmitted sound signals during a first time period, the response signals including at least one of transmission time of flight values or reflection time of flight values of one or more of the sound signals;

one or more processors configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored on one or more associated memories to:

create a first test data set for the test battery, the first test data set comprising one or more test data points corresponding to the response signals during the first time period;

transmit sound signals through at least a portion of the test battery and means for receiving response signals responsive to the transmitted sound signals during a second time period;

create a second test data set for the test battery, the second test data set comprising one or more test data points corresponding to the response signals during the second time period; and

determine changes in one or more comparable data points from the first test data set and the second test data set, the changes being correlated to changes in one or more physical states of the test battery.

15. A method of non-invasively testing a battery during manufacture, the method comprising:

determining that a test battery is at a pre-designated stage of manufacturing;

transmitting sound signals through at least a portion of the test battery;

receiving response signals in response to the transmitted sound signals, wherein the response signals include data points corresponding to acoustic measurements across the test battery;

creating a data set for the test battery that includes the data points;

correlating the data points in the data set with data points in a reference data set of one or more reference batteries to yield an assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, the data points in the reference data set corresponding to respective acoustic measurements across the one or more reference batteries obtained via respective response signals generated in response to one or more input acoustic signals transmitted into one or more portions of the one or more reference batteries; and

determining, in a non-invasive manner and based on the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, one or more characteristics of the test battery.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining a degree of deviation between the data points test data set and the data points in the reference data set;

comparing the degree of deviation to a pre-designated threshold; and

determining the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements based on comparing the degree of deviation to a pre-designated threshold.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

rejecting the test battery if the one or more characteristics of the battery indicate that manufacturing of the test battery is not to be advanced to a subsequent stage.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the test battery is electrically isolated.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the pre-designated stage of manufacture is prior to first use or operation of the test battery in charge-discharge cycles.

20. An apparatus comprising:

one or more memories having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and

one or more processors configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to:

determine that a test battery is at a pre-designated stage of manufacture;

receive response signals responsive to sound signals transmitted through at least a portion of the test battery, wherein the response signals include data points corresponding to acoustic measurements across the test battery;

create a data set for the test battery that includes the data points;

correlate the data set with data points in a reference data set of one or more reference batteries to yield an assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, the data points in the reference data set corresponding to respective acoustic measurements across the one or more reference batteries obtained via respective response signals generated in response to one or more input acoustic signals transmitted into one or more portions of the one or more reference batteries; and

determine, in a non-invasive manner and based on the assessment for each of the acoustic measurements, one or more characteristics of the test battery.